Verb tense-In 1976, 60% of families were...,but by 1996, this number had fallen...

[z7655431]

In 1976, 60% of families “were” couples with children, but by 1996, this number “had fallen” to 51%.
Is this sentence correct? The past perfect tense is used to show the action which happened before another event, but in this sentence, the earlier event “In 1976, 60% of families were couples with children” takes the simple past tense, and the last event takes the past perfect tense.
Why?
I think it should be on the opposite－In 1976, 60% of families “had been” couples with children, but by 1996, this number “fell” to 51%.

 

[Roman55]

The original is fine as it is.

If the fall had taken place in 1996 you could say, '…but in 1996, this number fell to 51%'. But the sentence is actually saying that there was a fall over time, and by 1996 it had reached 51%.

 

[kilroy65]

"In 1976, 60% of families “were” couples with children": "In" here denotes specific time in the past, so the use of the Past Simple is correct.

"...by 1996, this number “had fallen” to 51%": "by" here means that the process started and finished before (the end of) 1996. The use of the Past Perfect is also correct (something happened before a specific moment in the past).

 

[Tarheel]

The term "past perfect" should not be capitalized. Also, the phrase "in 1976" denotes a specific time period, not "in" by itself.

 

[kilroy65]

Point taken, Tarheel! Strange, I've always seen it capitalized....

 

[emsr2d2]

It might be capitalised if it were the title of a chapter in a grammar book or written at the top of a list of verbs but there's no need to capitalise it in other situations.

For example:


Chapter One - Past Perfect

This chapter deals with the past perfect tense.